Surveying the cetacean fossil record, Ishmael realizes just how ancient whales really are; they’ve existed since prehistoric times and it appears that they’ll persist long after mankind is gone. (More on that in Chapter 105.)

Ishmael also describes other ancient archives of whale lore beyond the fossil record, citing writing on Egyptian tablets and the existence of an ancient temple in Africa, where it’s rumored that the whale spat out Jonah.